Liberia arrests four over Ivory Coast attacks

Liberia has arrested four more suspects in connection with an attack on the Ivory Coast border last month in which seven UN peacekeepers were killed, a statement said Monday.

A government statement said the additional arrests were made as a result of investigations into three people arrested on July 13.

“The government of Liberia has notified the government of Ivory Coast of these arrests and the latter is collaborating with the investigation,” said the statement.

The attacks were believed to have been carried out by followers of Ivory Coast’s former president Laurent Gbagbo, whose refusal to step down after an election defeat sparked a four-month conflict in his country which claimed some 3,000 lives.

Gbagbo was captured in April last year and has been in custody in The Hague since November on allegations of crimes against humanity.

Diehard Gbagbo supporters are believed to have fled to Liberia after his fall. Liberian mercenaries were also widely implicated in the Ivory Coast conflict.

Human Rights Watch in June reported that these fighters were carrying out deadly cross-border raids in Ivory Coast.